Safety and efficacy of low-dose, cord blood-derived CD19 CAR-NK cells with 4-1BB co-stimulation in…

StudyMed (New York, N.Y.)· Jul 2026

Safety and efficacy of low-dose, cord blood-derived CD19 CAR-NK cells with 4-1BB co-stimulation in refractory systemic lupus erythematosus.

Zhiru Zeng, Wen Lei, Wenhai Deng … Huaxiang Wu

RheumatologyStudyTreatmentQ1IF 7.6

Low-dose CAR-NK cell therapy led to remission in 80% of refractory lupus patients.

Safety and efficacy of low-dose, cord blood-derived CD19 CAR-NK cells with 4-1BB co-stimulation in refractory systemic lupus erythematosus.

Zhiru Zeng … Huaxiang Wu

Med (New York, N.Y.) · Jul 2026 · Q1 in General Medicine

Background

B cell-targeting chimeric antigen receptor (chimeric antigen receptor) T cell therapy has shown efficacy in autoimmune diseases but is limited by toxicity, complex manufacturing, and high cost.

Methods

In this phase 1, open-label, dose-escalation study, five patients with refractory systemic lupus erythematosus received lymphodepletion chemotherapy followed by infusion of allogeneic CD19-BBz CAR-natural killer cells.

80% (4/5)

Results

80% (4/5)

Four out of five patients with refractory systemic lupus erythematosus achieved remission.

More results

Treatment was exceptionally well tolerated.

No grade ≥2 cytokine release syndrome and no neurotoxicity or graft-versus-host disease occurred.

All patients achieved profound B cell depletion, with nadir circulating B cell levels ranging from 0.16 to 1.44 cells/μL.

More results

Reconstituted B cells displayed a sustained naive-dominant repertoire.

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Conclusion

Low-dose umbilical cord blood-derived CD19-BBz CAR-natural killer cell therapy demonstrated an excellent safety profile and induced robust, durable clinical responses in refractory systemic lupus erythematosus.

Safety and efficacy of low-dose, cord blood-derived CD19 CAR-NK cells with 4-1BB co-stimulation in refractory systemic lupus erythematosus.

Safety and efficacy of low-dose, cord blood-derived CD19 CAR-NK cells with 4-1BB co-stimulation in refractory systemic lupus erythematosus.

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